Council and police salaries go public to halt pay boom

Friday 18 December 2009 08:13 BST

A crackdown on soaring pay rises and golden goodbyes to council chiefs was launched by the Government today.

The salaries and perks of about 300 top-earning town hall executives will be published next year in a first step to rein in their pay. It will apply to all local government bosses and police chiefs on £150,000 or more.

There will also be an inquiry into an alleged boom in pay-offs given to town hall bosses who fall out with local political leaders. There is concern that chief executives are finding it too easy to negotiate early retirement in their mid-fifties with six-figure payments.

The moves were announced by Communities Secretary John Denham and follow Gordon Brown's pledge to "name and shame" excessive earners in the public sector, from civil servants to BBC bosses.

He said: "The average pay of a local government worker has only gone up by £6,000 in seven years, while the average for a chief executive has gone up by £40,000."